Monday, January 31, 2011

Family Activity - The Boat and a Storm

Depending on the age of your family members, the origami boat activity can take several angles and go to different depths. The end goal is to discuss trusting God, as Peter had to trust Jesus in this week's scripture (Matthew 14:22-32).

To begin with, create an origami boat for each participant. For older children and adult family members, this can be part of the fun. If you have younger ones, you may want to have these ready to go before you bring them in on the activity.

Once the boats are created, encourage everyone to personalize their boat. They can add stickers, color them, whatever makes them personal. For older children and adults, this is a good time to read the scripture aloud and discuss Peter's trust. Perhaps each person could write a few things they need to trust God with on the inside of their boat, to represent Peter's hesitation to step out.

For younger children, allow a few extra minutes (and perhaps a few standby extra boats) as they explore how the boats float by placing them in a tub of water.

As a group, read the story from this week's scripture and discuss how scary it would be for the disciplines to be in a boat during the storm, and how much Peter had to trust Jesus.

Once the story has been shared, make a storm in the tub of water. Rain can be created by a watering can, wind from a hair drier or agitating the water by stirring from the sides. For young ones (or older participants as well) add dramatic fun by hollering out as the disciples might have for help.

After the storm subsides, and the cleaning begins, it can be helpful to have the children draw a picture of the story, to ensure they understood the message and perhaps to hang in a visible place to remind everyone about TRUST.

Please consider sharing the drawings created, or photos of your family making a storm for their origami boats. You can send the images to asone.lakeland@gmail.com or bring them to Katie Schultz at Lakeland any upcoming Sunday morning.

[**Please be cautious when using a hair drier to create the wind for the storm. Water and electricity are a dangerous combination. Safety first!*]